Ottawa: PM Trudeau has ‘secret’ lunch at local chip truck

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined a group of four friends on July 16, for a “secret” lunch and enjoyed some homemade fries in Gloucester, England.

“It was a big secret,” said Morin, 49, who owns Claude Chip Wagon.

“I heard it was going to rain (the day of the visit) and I was disappointed, but I rented a tent just in case — I did not want to miss this opportunity.”

It started when a group of friends, Patric Lo, Chris Solomon, Paul Parolin and Zachary Muir-Vavrina, decided to take their love of fries and country to the next level.

Last summer, the group stopped at every chip stand from Ottawa to Kenora and order fries with gravy then rating it on a scale of five.

This summer they wanted to go even bigger.

“We were talking and we thought Canada 150 — we want to celebrate the year in the most spectacular way — why not reach out to the prime minister?” said Lo.

They started an Instagram campaign and got the prime minister’s attention.

“His team saw the videos and thought we did something very cool and very Canadian and they said, ‘Why not come to Ottawa and sit down with the prime minister?’” Lo said.

The men were excited, but only had one week to prepare. They decided to call Morin.

“Claude’s was one of the first chip stands we stopped by — it was a great location, fries were great. It just made sense,” Lo said.

Lo described his lunch with Trudeau as “super chill.”

“It was a great experience — our conversation was very casual and we didn’t want to get political. It was a very nice opportunity for us to talk to the prime minister and for him to hang out with four guys who are just doing something for the fun of it.”